People Are Strange by The Dead South – Song of the Day

Usually, we wouldn’t choose a cover to be our Song of the Day – especially a classic like People Are Strange by an iconic band such as The Doors – but we’re considering our love for the 1987 film, The Lost Boys, our hearts just couldn’t say no to this new version by The Dead South!

People Are Strange appears on the second half of The Dead South’s Easy Listening For Jerks EP, both due for release on March 4, 2022. Part II is inspired by the band’s own pre-show playlist, and includes songs by System of a Down, Cold War Kids and Ween. The Dead South dust-off People Are Strange, with an entertaining video that puts an intergalactic spin on the song’s theme of alienation.

With banjo, mandolin, cello and guitar, The Dead South certainly look the part of bluegrass traditionalists. But, as outsiders to the bluegrass world by circumstances of geography, they’re from the Canadian prairies, and by influences, equal parts fingerpicking and punk, there are few comparisons to be made for the four-piece acoustic band.

A brotherhood first and foremost, The Dead South formed at university in 2012 and forged on the road. Their progressive, tightly constructed approach to acoustic music that favours intricate solos and harmonies has brought two JUNO Awards for ‘Traditional Album of the Year’, the most recent for the Muscle Shoals-made Sugar & Joy (2019). The Dead South followed up in 2020 with Served Live, a double live album that celebrated and supported the live music industry in a time of crisis.

With their newly announced double EPs, Easy Listening for Jerks, Parts I & II, The Dead South find their own balance between their punk origins and the bluegrass world of their sound. A strong statement about identity, influence and inspiration, the new EPs show a band stepping out into new musical territory while also staying true to themselves. 

Easy Listening for Jerks Part I Track Listing: 

1. Keep On The Sunny Side
2. Pallet On The Floor
3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
4. Flint Hill Special
5. You Are My Sunshine
6. Matterhorn

Easy Listening for Jerks Part II Track Listing:

1. Yahoos and Triangles (Intro)
2. People Are Strange
3. Chop Suey
4. We Used To Vacation
5. Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain
6. Saturday Night
7. 96 Quite Bitter Beings

Keep up to date with The Dead South on their Facebook page here.

For more Song Of The Days from CountryTown, check out here.

Image: Supplied